Artificial intelligence and blockchain have been the key themes front and centre of this year’s Money 20/20 USA, with leading voices from banking, payments and crypto exploring how these technologies are reshaping financial services.
On Day 1, Joanne Hannaford, chief information officer and chief product officer at Deutsche Bank, addressed the workplace impact of AI.
“No one at Deutsche Bank is worried about AI replacing their jobs; they want to figure out how to use it so they can get home at a reasonable time,” she said.
Hannaford noted that trust remains the biggest concern, with training requiring significant personal time that many employees are reluctant to commit.
Greg Ulrich, Chief AI and Data Officer at Mastercard, emphasised the importance of training and community engagement.
“Those that got more creative with AI and had better training, saw a positive spiral of effectiveness,” he explained.
His comments reflect broader industry findings, such as those from McKinsey, which show that companies investing in AI training see higher productivity and innovation.
Kash Razzaghi, chief commercial officer at Circle, turned the spotlight on blockchain.
“We’re getting to the point of large-scale blockchain adoption,” he said, citing Stripe and Circle’s development of proprietary chains. Razzaghi stressed that the real breakthrough lies in improving the consumer experience and simplifying the technology’s complexity.
As the conference continues, the message is clear: AI and blockchain are no longer experimental. They are essential tools, and the challenge now is making them trustworthy, accessible and easy to use.
